Time well wasted

Tools

This collection of ways to avoid that 10-page research paper doesn't include your average five-second dramatic rodent YouTube clip. Instead, we merged minds to bring you the most creative options for wasting your time on YouTube and beyond. All you need is a lack of academic concentration and the Internet (possibly headphones too, depending on where you are).

Oh, and if you've got a favorite time-waster not listed, share it with the rest of us by commenting below.

Well-written and hilarious, fans have praised the true-to-life families the show features: a gay couple with their newly adopted baby; a mom with three kids and a dad who tries to act hip and ends up more like a kid himself; and a grandpa married to a young, hot Colombian woman with a smart-as-a-whip son.

You'll be learning something, even if it's not helpful for that research paper.

•Ink (YouTube, iTunes, Netflix):

OK, so this is about an hour-and-a-half-long break, but this sci-fi film will shatter your mind. It was one of the most illegally downloaded movies of 2009, which, once released to iTunes and Netflix, jumped to the top of the legal charts. You may even recognize some of the locations and actors, since the indie was filmed in Denver for $250,000.

The reliable website option

• Stumbleupon.com:

This isn't really a website. Rather, it's a gateway to millions of random websites that range from informative to hilarious and sometimes both. Many Facebook wall links have stemmed from this site. Click once and, magically, hours are gone.

• Netflix.com:

In case you couldn't tell from the choices above, Netflix is a pretty time-consuming site. Why spend loads of money for cable when you can pay only 9 bucks a month for tons of instant streaming and one DVD at a time?

• Todaysbigthing.com:

A new, soon-to-be-popular, and usually stupid, video every day.

• Artisticthings.com:

Never fails to satisfy with a wide range of interesting, out-there posts courtesy of the art world.

• Hypem.com:

Like music? Like remixes? This is your gold mine. It lists songs found from all corners of the Internet and most you can easily download. It's fun to browse, but better to use when you have a song or two in mind to search for.

Competing against fellow study group members makes this game more fun. And try throwing in obstacle pages to make it harder. (Example: Getting from "Lady Gaga" to "Cold War" might be challenging, but the true test would be for players to hit on "peanut butter" somewhere in between.)